Clutch mechanism



- c. H. NORTON.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

Patented Bee.

STATES PATENT oFF CHARLES H. NORTON, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR TO NORTON COE /IPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ACORPORATION OF MASSA-- CHUSETTS.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

1,361,797. Continuation of application Serial No.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. NORTON, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, re-. siding at Worcester, in the county of VOI'CBS- ter andState of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Clutch Mechanisms, of which the following" is a full,clear, and exact specification.

My invention relates to a driving and reversing mechanlsm and moreparticularly to means for'reducing the shock commonly occurring at themoment of reversal of such mally moved; hence when the power is shut offand the mechanism is reversed, considerable energy is -involved inovercoming the inertia of these movable parts. Furthermore, sincereversing mechanism of thd type covered by my invention involves aclutch member slidable between oppositely rotating driving members, andsince the clutchjmemher is commonly spring actuated and moves at highspeed from one end to the other of its path of travel, it causesconsiderable shock when it is stopped abruptly.

It is accordinglyan object of my invention to provide a lost motionconnection in a clutch mechanism which permits massive, movable machineparts to come gradually to rest under their own frictional retardingforces, after the clutch has been thrown for a reverse movement, and thedriving force has been temporarily disconnected from the driven parts. Afurther object is to cushion the movement of the sliding member of aclutch in a driving and reversing mechanism by entrapping oil betweenthis member and an adjacent portion of the mechanism and then permittingthe same to escape gradu ally under the pressure of the moving clutchmember, and to combine the oil cushioning means and the lost motionconnection in a compact, unitary clutch structure which will reduce thenoise and shock strains normally Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. '7, 1920.

127,397, filed October 24, 1916. This application filed March 28, 1918.Serial No. 224,330.

incident to reversal of direction of movement of a load and therebyimprove the operation of the whole machine.

W'ith these and other objects in view, as will appear from the followingdisclosure my invention resides in the combination 0 parts set forth inthe specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

In the drawings in which like numerals indicate like parts: I

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view of my improved reversingmechanism;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 22-Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a portion of the sliding clutch membertaken along the line 33--Fig. l.

In the practice of my invention I provide a novel driving and reversingmechanism comprising a sliding clutch member movable on a shaft betweenrotatable gears which are oppositel driven by suitable power mechanism.0 overcome the shock incident to the engagement of clutch teeth, Iprovide oil cushioning and sound deadening means which retard themovement of the clutch member when it is substantially at the end of itspath. Since the. parts moved by the driven shaft have considerablemomentum, I fasten the sliding clutch member to the shaft by means whichpermit the shaft to continue rotation after the clutch has been thrownand the sliding member has started to rotate in the opposite direction.

Referring to the drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of myinvention, I have there shown a driving shaft rotatable in a bearing 11in a frame or casing 12 which supports the reversing mechanism,

The shaft 10 maybe driven in any convenient manner, as by a spur gear13, and is enlarged at its inner end to provide a seat for a bevel gear14. The shaft 10 is also provided with an annular flange to which thebevel gear 14 maybe secured by pins or rivets 16. Upon its inner facethe flange 15 is provided with teeth 17 for engagement withcorresponding teeth 18 on the sliding clutch member 20.

The member 20 is slidable'upon a driven shaft 21 which is provided witha lug or projectionQQ (Fig. 2) adapted togngage a corresponding lug 23formed oni tlrej inside of the sliding member 20, -the functions ofwhich: parts will be morefnlly-jeXplained and described in 'a UnitedStates Patent the clutch member 20 may be quickly moved from onecooperating set ofclutch teeth to the other without liability of themachine coming to rest with the clutch in neutral position it is usualto provide means for shifting the clutch through a direct agency otherthan the movement of the table. One means for accomplishing this mayinvolve springs in which energy is stored by the movement of the tableuntil such time as it may be released to shift the position of theclutch instantaneously. A ,device which may be employed for this purposeis illustrated Number 762,838, granted to me on June 14, 1904. In thisconstruction, springs 28 are provided for forcing the casting 26longitudinally, and latches, not shown, hold the casting in positionwhile the springs 28 are being compressed. Upon the lifting of theretaining latch, the casting 26 is abruptly thrown to the opposite endof its path of travel, carrying with it the yoke 25 and the slidingclutch member 20.

A bevel gear 30 mounted on ball bearings supported by a fixed stud 31 isengaged by the bevel gear 14 and drives a similar bevel gear 32 securedto a sleeve member 33 loosely rotatable upon the driven shaft 21. Themember 33 is provided with a flange portion 34 having teeth 35cooperating with teeth 36 upon one end of the sliding clutch member.

In order to provide an oil cushion for the sliding clutch mechanism, Iform cylindrical recesses 37- and 38 in the inner ends of clutch members33 and 15 surrounding the passage between the plunger and recess wall.

It will be observed from an inspection of F igs. 1 and 2, that the lug23 on the interior of the sliding clutch member 20 extends for such ashort distance, measured peripherally:

that the fit between the clutch member and the shaft 21 is whollydestroyed; hence I make the cylindrical plungers .40 and 41 serve theadditional function of holding the clutch member concentric with theshaft. The whole mechanism is carried in areceptacle filled with a fluidsuch as oil, so that when the clutch member is thrown, the plunger 40,for example, is forced into the depression 37 against the oil cushion,the oil passing out gradually through the annular" passage around theplunger and permitting the clutch member to reach the limit of itsmovement without material shock.

The plunger and recess may be so shaped that the oil is forced out at agradually decreas-.

ing rate as the plunger goes in, or the parts otherwise arranged to forma satisfactory cushion for the clutch member. The several parts of thesliding clutch member may be rigidly. secured together by bolts orrivets 42 (Figs. 1 and 3).

The operation of the device is considered obvious. "When a latch isreleased to reverse the drive, the springs 28 force the sliding clutchmember 20 instantly toward the opposite end of its path of travel.Assuming that the parts are as in Fig. 1, the clutch member will bemoved abruptly tothe left, until the projection 40 enters the recess 37.The movement of the clutch member will then be reduced in speed as theoil in the recess 37 escapes around the edge of the loosely fittingplunger, whereby the member 20 is brought gradually to a state of resting lug 23 on the inside of the sliding clutch member rotates from theposition.

shown in Fig. 2 to a position where it engages thg. opposite side '0thelug 22, this movement allowing timev and thelload driven thereby, tocome gradually to' rest before it must be moved in the oppositedirection. The lug 22 accordingly serves as a key mounted in a widegroove in the outer slidable member20, the groove being wider than thekey to'provide forJost motion upon reversal of motion of theparts. Asillustrated, this groove extends nearly around the member 21, leavingonly a pro- 'ection or lug 23 on the outer member 20..

owever, the size of these relative lugs may be proportioned inaccordance with the time necessary to allow the movable driven parts tocome to rest under their own frictional retardation.

r the shaft 21,-

This construction serves to divide the.

shock of starting the mechanism into two. .separate lesser shocks, thisbeing due to the fact that when the mechanism is reversed the machinemust first start the rotatable clutch member and then, when lug 23contacts with lug 22, start the shaft 21. Also, i

g 23 on the will be evident to those skilled in the art,

and I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherthan as set forth in the appended claims.

This application is a continuation of my copending case, Serial #127,397filed October 24, 1916 on a Reversing Mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A reversing mechanism having incombination a shaft, a driven member slid-ably mounted 'on said shaft,means for rotating said member in either direction, and a lost;v

motion connection between said member and shaft whereby said member maybe moved freely through a substantial angle relative to said shaft uponreVersa/Pof said member before positive engagement with saidshaft.

2. A reversing mechanlsm having 1n combination a shaft, a driven memberslidably mounted on said shaft, means forrotating said member in eitherdirection, and a lost motion connection between said member and shaftcomprising a lug on said member adapted to engage either side of acorrespondin Iugon said shaft and effective to drive s'aid shaftthereby.

3. In a reversing mghanism for reciprocating as heavy body, rotativedriving and driven members, means comprising a reversible clutch and alost motion connection between said members for rotating the drivenmember and permitting it to come gradually .to'restafter the clutch hasbeen reversed and means to cushion movement of the clutch to reduce theshock of reversing the mechanism. I

4. In a reversing mechanism, a driven shaft, a clutch,comprisingioppositely rotatable driving parts and a member slidabletherebetween for engaging one or the other of said parts to rotate theshaft in either direction, a lost motion connection between said clutchand the driven shaft permitting the shaft to continue rotation after theclutch has been shifted and means to cushion the sliding movement of theclutch member.

In a re ersing mechanism for driving heavy bodies, ashaft, a drivenclutch member slidably mounted on the shaft. means for rotating saidmember in either direction,

a lost motion connection between said mem er and said shaf whereb thelatter may continue its origin motion afte t e dir o tion of the clutchmember has been changed and cushioning means to eliminate the shockincident to slidable movement of the clutch member.

6. In areversing mechanism, a rotatable driven shaft, a. clutch memberslidably mounted on the shaft, means including clutch parts cooperatingwith said member to rotate the latter in opposite directions, a lost Imotion connection between said member and the ha pe mi t ng h latter tocontinue its Original tio after th clutch has bee thrown and a plungeron an. end of the clutch member, one of said clutch parts have ing afluid-filled recess engageable by said plunger and adapted to cushionthe movement of the clutch.

7. In a reversing mechanism for reciprocating a massive body, a drivenshaft having alu'g thereon, aclutch member slidably and rotatablymounted on theshafthnd having a lug on its inner surface adapted toengage either side of the shaft lug, thereby constituting a lost motionconnection between said member and shaft, rotatable driving partsadjacent the ends of and engageable by said member to rotate the latterand a plunger on each end of theclutch member, each of said parts havinga fluid-filled recess engageable by the adjacent plunger and adapted tocushion the movement of the clutch member as the clutch isshifted.

ing connection between the clutch member and the shaft and means forpositioning the clutch member concentrically of the shaft.

9. A reversing mechanism having in com- 105. bination a driven shaft,two driving members rotatable in opposite directions having I positionsaid member concentrically on the shaft and cooperate with the recessesto cushion the movement of the-slidable clutch member.

Signed at Worcester, Massachusetts, this 21 day of March. 1918. CHARLESH. NORTON.

